Young Beichan

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Young Beichan or Young Bekie is Child ballad number 53, existing in many variants.

[edit] Synopsis

Beichan is born in London but travels to far lands. He is taken prisoner, usually by a Moor, though sometimes by the king of France after he fell in love with his daughter. Lamenting his fate, he promises to be a son to any married woman who will rescue him, or a husband to an unmarried one. The daughter of his captor rescues him, and he leaves, promising to marry her.

He does not return. She sets out after him — in some variants, because warned by a household spirit Belly Blin, that he is about to marry — and arrives as he is marrying another. His porter tells him of a woman at his gate, and he instantly realizes it is the woman who rescued him. He sends his new bride home and marries her.